Matt - Christchurch Photographic Society

upComing…
MARCH 2010 : Issue Two
Photojournalism
with Newell Grenfell
3rd March
7th March
10th March
17th March
20th March
24th March
31st March
✦ 7.15pm Workshop – Matt
Nixon, Digital Cameras
✦ 8pm PI1 Competition results/
presentation
✦ PI2 Closing Date
✦ Field Trip – Amberley Amble
(see back page)
✦ 7pm Workshop – Portraiture
follow-up with Catherine Smith
✦ 8pm 1st Print competition
results/presentation
✦ 7.15pm-Workshop – Tutorial
follow-up
✦ 8pm-Speaker Newell Grenfell
(see article)
✦ Natural History Competition
hand-in 2 prints and or 2
projected images
Photojournalism at Ruapuna
with John Miller (see Photo Ops)
✦ 7.15pm Projected Image
Formatting with David Slaten
✦ 8pm 1st C Grade Competition
results/presentation
✦ 7pm New Members Workshop
– Digital AV’s with Annette Preen
✦ 8pm PI2 Competition results/
presentation
✦ PI4 Closing date
Newell Grenfell is one of
New Zealand’s more versatile
photographers, but his main passion
is photographing people. He won the
CPS Photojournalism Cup for slides
(projected images) six times between
2000 and 2006.
An instructional and entertaining speaker, he was invited
to present at last year’s Australian Photographic Society
Convention in Victor Harbor. He will give us this talk on March
17 under the provocative title, ‘Why and How I Shoot People’.
Newell is an Honorary Life Member and Fellow of The
Photographic Society of New Zealand and was on the Society’s
Honours Board for 12 years, the last three as Chair. He has
been a member of CPS for more than 30 years and is a former
President.
7th April
✦ 7.15pm Workshop – Lenses
with Witta Priester
✦ 8pm-Speaker Jim Harding
✦ PR2 closing date
All images by Newell Grenfell except
portrait of Newell which was taken by
Jacqui Grenfell
Viewfinder is the official
publication of the
Christchurch Photographic
Society
PO Box 1789
Christchurch Mail Centre
Christchurch 8140
Viewfinder is just one of
the ways we spread the
word about CPS. If you are
interested in finding out
more about CPS, you are
welcome to attend our
weekly meetings held on
Wednesday nights at
8:00pm at the Riccarton
Community Church,
44 Elizabeth Street, Riccarton,
Christchurch.
Articles by 20th month to:
carolyn@fusiontrust.co.nz
A complete list of Officers
of CPS is available on the
website but here are two
important ones for you!
Diana Andrews
president@cpsnz.com
Iain Anderson
membership@cpsnz.com
For more information see
our website: cpsnz.com
You can also download
previous issues of Viewfinder
in PDF format from the
website.

Selection of images from the CPS Permanent Collection. Some we have no record
on who shot the image. These are a collection we had printed for the CPS 100
year celebration
2nd Battalion Canterbury
Regiment, Lt R Wiltshire
26 April 1941
St Michael’s Church (Bell 1861) Flag Half Mast (Duke of
Kent) 1942
Sumner from Summit Road 1940
The Blue Pool, Rose Garden, Christchurch 1939
Armistice Day, Christchurch 1939
left: Main Street,
Queenstown 1945
right: Decorated Bicycle,
Avon Centennial Park, 2nd
Prize 6 April 1940

from the President
Well, we are getting
into the New Year and
should be sorting out
some images for the
competitions. Check
out the programme
and don’t miss the Workshops. Lots of
valuable advice will be there for your use.
We have a new Data Projector to show our
images at their best. And have fun with
photography
Cheers
Diana
Trey Ratcliff – Visiting
Photographer from USA
Thursday 4th March
Trey has had the first HDR photo to hang
in the Smiithsonian, is represented by Getty,
has had over 21 million views on Flickr,
and has been featured on the BBC, ABC,
NBC, CBS, and FOX. His latest book, “A
World in HDR” has helped to evolve the
medium forward and has repeatedly sold
out on Amazon in the US, UK, Canada, and
Australia. He is travelling NZ at present and
is keen to meet photographers:
DETAILS
Meet outside the Canterbury Museum at 6pm for
Photography Walkabout with Trey (free)
Then at 8pm: Talk by Trey Ratcliff ($10 to cover hire)
at Our City Gallery O-Tautahi-Cnr Worcestor and
Oxford Terrace
Bookings Carolyn@fusiontrust.co.nz
Local Photo Opportunities
Festival of Flowers 2010
Friday 19th February–Sunday 14th March 2010
Venue: Cathedral Square www.bethere.co.nz/venues/cathedral-square
Official Website: www.festivalofflowers.co.nz
Gospel, Jazz and Blues Festival
Saturday 27th–Sunday 28th February 2010, Time: 9.30am - 4pm
Venue: Hanmer Springs
Waipara Wine and Food Festival
Saturday 6th March 2010. Doors open at 11am
Venue: Waipara, North Canterbury
Official Website: www.waiparawineandfood.co.nz
Culture Galore
Saturday 13th March 2010, Time: 12.00pm - 4.00pm
Venue: Ray Blank Park, Maidstone Rd. This is a free event
Season of Cycling: Le Race 2010
Saturday 20th March 2010
Official Website: www.lerace.co.nz
Season of Cycling: Meridian Kids Bike Jams
Sunday 21st March 2010
Registration starts from 9.30 onwards. Race start details on website.
Venue: McLeans Forest, McLeans Island Road
Official Website: www.kidsbikejams.co.nz
Photojournalism Photography Outing
Saturday 20th March Entry Cost $10.00
NZ V8 Ute Racing at Ruapuna Raceway
Meet at Yaldhurst Hotel at 8.30am
Any queries please contact John Miller 351 1515.
Omarino Wine & Food Day Out 2010
Sunday 28th March 2010. Gates Open 11am
Venue: Omarino Wine Park
Official Website: www.omarinowinepark.co.nz
Oxford A&P Show
Saturday 3rd April 2010, Time: 8.15am - 6pm
Venue: Oxford Show Grounds, Bay Road, Oxford
Official Website: www.oxfordapshow.co.nz
Spiritual Washing in the Ganges -–Sally Brake (see article back page)

Sally Brake
Sally Brake
Sally’s passion for photography
emerged when as an 8 year old she
would help her father develop black and
white images in the family laundry on
a Saturday night. She originally joined
the Hagley Camera Club and has been
a member of CPS for 9 years. Her early
tutors were Peter Harper, Dave Wethey
and Bevan Tullett. She has gained
inspiration from such photographers
as Steve McCurry, Mary Ellen Mark,
Freeman Patterson, Alison Wright, Craig
Potton, Raghubir Singh and Brian
Brake (no relation).
She says she would like her
photography to reflect her inner
journey as a way to relate to the land
and the people who inhabit it. As a
conservationist she would like good
photography to be a vehicle to healing
the world. Knowing the technical rules
is an important aspect but making
photos for her is about a spiritual
and emotional connection. Her
main areas of interest are landscape,
photojournalism and travel. Her
adventures have taken her through the
USA, Europe, Chile, Thailand and India.
Field Trip – Amberley Amble
Sunday 7th March 2010.
Meet at “The Three Grandmothers” in Amberley, (which is
very close to the Public loos). We will depart at 8.00 a.m. and
perambulate around the countryside in our non-4WDrives
If you require any further information, please do not
hesitate to contact Chris Newman on 0-3 3887 147 or via email
at judyreij@gmail.com
MC’s and Supper for March
Date MC Supper
Wed 3rd Annette Preen Brenda Ayers
Wed 10th John Miller John Thornton
Wed 17th Heidi Anderson Graeme Hobbs and Jan Driscall
Wed 24th Frank Green Anne Bastion and Pat Pilkington
Wed 31st Annette Preen tba
Matt’s CHAT
Lots of interesting things to report on this month
as we start to see a whole raft of new announcements
out of CES in Las Vegas trickling through.
The biggest buzz seems to be around the
growing micro 4/3rds category from Olympus
and Panasonic who have both expanded their
ranges while Ricoh, Sony and Samsung have
all announced competing systems in order to
get in on the game.
Speaking of which Ricoh’s range topping
GXR has just landed. Billed as the worlds
smallest and lightest interchangeable lens digital
camera, Ricoh has come up with a really
unique take on the category. The key difference
with the GXR becomes apparent when
you go to change lenses and you realise the
lens and sensor come away from the body all
as one unit. Ricohs argument is that this avoids
the issue of dust contamination as the sensor is
never exposed during lens changes while the
lens and
sensor
type can
be individually
matched
for
optimum image courtesy ricoh.com
performance.
The obvious downside being that you buy
a new sensor with every lens although looking
at their current pricing structure this doesn’t
seem to be an issue. The initial lens/sensor
options include a 24-72mm F2.5-4.4 lens using
a 1/1.7 inch 10 MP CCD and a 50mm F2.5
Macro lens using a larger APS-C sized 12MP
CMOS sensor. The former being the more
versatile, smaller and lighter lens while the latter
offers improved lowlight sensitivity, support
for high def movies and more control over
your depth of field. If initial impressions are
anything to go by I think they might be on to
something.
For you Canon fans out there March
brings us the new Eos 550D which brings
18MP, 1080P video and ISO 6400 impressive
given the sub $2000 price point. And not to
be left out Nikon have announced new 24mm
f1.4 and 16-35mm F4 VR lenses which given
the success of their more recent designs will
no doubt be impressive.
All in all, interesting times.
Matt
www.photo.co.nz
For personal photographic advice, pop in and see
Matt, Greg and the
rest of the team at
Photo and Video in
Merivale Mall.